Jan. 9, 2014
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President Obama and Robert Gates / Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

Robert Gates' new book is getting bad reviews from former colleagues in the Obama administration.

Former White House chief of staff William Daley not only disputed Gates' criticism of President Obama and aides, he criticized the fact that Gates had it published while Obama is still in office.

"This rush to do books by people who leave an administration while the administration is ongoing, I think, is unfortunate," Daley told CBS This Morning.

Daley added: "I think it's just a disservice, to be very frank with you."

White House press secretary Jay Carney, echoing a statement the administration put out Tuesday night, said Obama simply disagrees with Gates' criticisms, particularly those of Vice President Biden.

In his forthcoming memoir -- Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary of War -- Gates writes that Obama lost faith in his Afghanistan plan, according to excerpts in The New York Times and Washington Post. There is also criticism of members of Congress and of the George W. Bush administration.

While Gates accused the White House of meddling with and micro-managing the military, Carney said Obama encourages different aides to voice a full range of opinions.

Obama "expects to hear competing points of view," Carney said.

The spokesman also noted that Gates writes that Obama made the "right" decisions about initially sending more troops to Afghanistan. Carney also said Obama has not read Gates' book, which goes on public sale Tuesday.

Carney opened his briefing with a joke: "Read any good books lately."

Former White House senior adviser David Axelrod, speaking on NBC's Today show, said he was surprised by the Gates excerpts.

"He always indicated he had a good working relationship with the president," Axelrod said.

Gates does praise Obama at points, but the criticism is drawing most of the attention.

"The controlling nature of the Obama White House, and its determination to take credit for every good thing that happened while giving none to the career folks in the trenches who had actually done the work, offended Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton as much as it did me," Gates writes, according to an excerpt posted by The Wall Street Journal.

President George W. Bush appointed Gates to the Pentagon in 2006. Obama asked him to stay on after the 2008 election. Gates retired from the Defense Department in 2011.

According to the excerpts, Gates is sharply critical of Biden. While calling the vice president a "man of integrity," Gates also says he has been "wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."

On CBS, Daley said that Obama has been "very committed" to the troops in Afghanistan, and "the policy of trying to decimate al-Qaeda."

The White House responded with a written statement, via National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden:

"The President deeply appreciates Bob Gates' service as Secretary of Defense, and his lifetime of service to our country. Deliberations over our policy on Afghanistan have been widely reported on over the years, and it is well known that the President has been committed to achieving the mission of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-Qaeda, while also ensuring that we have a clear plan for winding down the war, which will end this year.

"As has always been the case, the President welcomes differences of view among his national security team, which broaden his options and enhance our policies. The President wishes Secretary Gates well as he recovers from his recent injury, and discusses his book.

"The President disagrees with Secretary Gates' assessment â?? from his leadership on the Balkans in the Senate, to his efforts to end the war in Iraq, Joe Biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time, and has helped advance America's leadership in the world. President Obama relies on his good counsel every day."